Temples Festival –
Motion, Bristol 4 May 2014
A quick trip across the Severn Bridge on a sunny bank
holiday weekend to visit the inaugural Temples Festival was too tempting to
miss. We parked up in the vibrant city centre early on Sunday afternoon near
our hotel and fought our way through the heaving throngs enjoying the glorious
weather. 25 minutes later we arrived at the Temples Festival, located close to
Temple Meads Railway Station. This was day three and I'd already heard good
things about the festival which had seen well received performances from a
range of bands including headliners Electric Wizard and one of the heaviest
sets ever witnessed from Neurosis. One fellow metaller told me that he had
never heard anything so loud in his life.
The layout of this festival is simple. Located in the Motion
venue on the edge of the River Avon, there are two stages which adjoin each
other, a merchandise section and ample outside seating with numerous bars and
food stalls. Okay, the beer was pretty limited, with staples like Red Stripe,
Guinness, Stowford Press cider etc. available in cans at relatively high prices
but there was the option to wander in and out at will. Anyway, I appeared to
manage to get rather bolloxed without leaving the site for more than half an
hour (Where I did manage one of Brett Perry’s magnificent 7.8% French lagers.)
We were too late to catch Lionize who were also supporting Clutch on their current UK tour
which was a bit gutting especially as Ant, who had travelled to see the
evening’s headliners Clutch in Nottingham the night before raved about them all
the way to the venue. However, we arrived in time to catch the last half of Black Moth’s set which was a bonus. The
Leeds outfit, led by vocal powerhouse Harriet Bevan have a doomy Sabbath
infused sound which is really infectious and for 15 minutes we were pinned to
the wall by the wave of sludgy metal. Mental note to self: check out their
debut album The Killing Jar as soon
as possible. A great introduction to the festival. 8/10
Next up for us was Beastmilk,
from Finland who inevitably became known as Breastmilk for the rest of the day.
These had been on my radar since early this year when the infectious Fields of
the Nephilim sounding Death Reflects Us
had appeared on a Classic Rock compilation CD as one of the bands to watch in
2014. I clearly wasn't alone as the second stage was full to capacity. The
‘Milk (as I shall call them) didn't disappoint with a number of tracks of the
excellent release Climax. Led by the
excellent vocals of Kvohst their sound is a mix of Joy Division, The Mission, Killing Joke and
even a dash of Echo and the Bunnymen, albeit with a slightly heavier tinge.
Standout tracks for me were Surf the
Apocalypse and the already mentioned Death
Reflects Us which received a very enthusiastic response. 9/10
Featuring former members of Taint and Whyteleaf, Welsh outfit HARK drew a healthy crowd in the main
arena. Fusing angry post-punk with elements of sludge and doom, HARK got straight to business with a run
through tracks from their latest release Crystalline.
Guitarist and vocalist Jimbob Isaac can riff with the best and
demonstrated this throughout, cutting and scything out at will. Ably supported
by bassist Nikolai Ribnikov and drummer Simon Bonwick HARK are a driving force who gallop along at full force. Excellent
stuff and when Neil Fallon joins them for Clear
Light of … which he also contributes to on Crystalline then you know they can't be bad. 7/10
After a quick breather we headed back towards the front for
the Bristolian power trio Gonga. Described as a heavy stoner band, Gonga are an instrumental outfit who
defy the word heavy. Formed in 1998 by brothers George Elgie (guitars), Thomas Elgie (drums), they (line-up completed by
bassist Latch) proceeded to lay waste to all around with wave after wave of
deep powerful free styling that shook the very foundations of the building. At
one point I’m convinced my liver had realigned itself and I had to keep a check
on the walls just in case masonry began to break lose. However, there is also
huge groove to this band and as I scanned the crowd everyone was nodding along
vigorously. These guys don't play short stuff mind, with the opening two tracks
clocking in at close to ten minutes each.
This was captivating stuff and no-one left during the set. Finishing to
an almighty ovation Gonga are one I
will definitely see again. 8/10
I have to admit that we took a bit of a break after this and
spent a couple of hours enjoying the lovely evening whilst catching up and
having a couple of drinks. Having watched a few minutes of Doomriders, but not enough to make a genuine comment, we headed
back to the front to wait for Clutch. This meant I only had chance to stick my
head around the corner to watch death metal legends Repulsion blasting their way through a powerful set. However, at my
age and at 23:15, I need something to lean on and the barrier provided an
inviting space for me.
Now, this was my fifth time of seeing Maryland’s finest, Clutch, and most of them have been
close up. What hasn't changed is the raw energy that this band, now nearly a
quarter of a century, possess. What has changed is the quality of their music.
Latest album Earth Rocker was the
album of 2013, and having seen them at London’s Forum on the Earth Rocker tour, I knew the new stuff
fitted into the set like hand in glove. Clutch
rarely if ever play the same set twice, and once again they threw in a couple
of gems. Kicking off with the immense The
Mob Goes Wild, they laid down a 75 minute headline set of absolute quality.
Delivering a huge nine tracks from Earth Rocker, the set also included some
older gems. Pure Rock Fury got the
place moving with Neil Fallon in fine form, all bluster and shape cutting. One
of the world’s most under rated drummers, Jean-Paul Gaster combined with Dan Maines to provide the backbone whilst Tim Sult delivered
some absolutely stunning fret work. The Yeti from The Elephant Riders was a welcome addition as well as blinding
versions of Gravel Road and The Regulator. The main set closed with The Wolf Man Kindly Requests and then a
more traditional ending of Electric Worry
and One Eye Dollar from Jam Room rounded off a thoroughly
brilliant set. This is a band that just gets better and better. See them whilst
you can. 10/10
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